Chef: Fergus Henderson

Cookbook: The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating

Publisher: Ecco

Information

Notes

Is it not splendid when you have a guest to stay who cooks delicious things for you? A fine example is Ken, a chef from Sydney, who prepared this splendid dish full of most of my favorite things. He even finished it off with a healthy splash of truffle oil, which I have omitted from this version, but please express yourself.

Ingredients

About 5½ pounds pork loin on the bone (you will want six chops out of it at the end): ask the butcher to leave the skin on, chine it but not score it

2 onions, peeled and chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

18 cloves of garlic with skin on, separated, roasted in the oven until soft and sweet, then squeezed out of their skins and mashed

1 small can anchovies in oil, drained and finely chopped

A handful of capers (extra-fine if possible)

A handful of curly parsley, chopped

A healthy splash of extra virgin olive oil

A splash of red wine vinegar

12 small or 6 large turnips, peeled and chopped, greens reserved

Directions

Remove the skin of the pork in one piece (this is not hard: with a thin, sharp knife, gently slice under the skin, following it around the pork), then gently score it (if in doubt your butcher will remove the bone and score it for you). Place the skin back where it was before. In a roasting pan layout your onions and place your pork and skin on top of them, then season with salt and pepper. Put into a hot 425°F oven for 2½ hours.

Meanwhile, make your dressing: mix the garlic, anchovies, capers, parsley, oil, vinegar, and pepper, and keep at the ready. Fifteen minutes before the pork is done, cook your turnips in boiling salted water. When cooked add the greens, then drain straightaway. Place these into a serving bowl, dress, and toss so all get to know the dressing. Remove the pork from the oven; it will hold its heat well and will enjoy a rest if things are a little out of sync.

If the skin is not crispy enough return it to the oven to crisp up while you slice the loin into chops. Place these on top of the dressed turnips and greens. Finally, remove the crisp skin from the oven and roughly chop it with a big knife. Top the dish off with this and serve.